Month: September 2014

Contemporary works have changed the way most people think of musical theatre. New musicals are modernizing the broadway world both thematically and artistically, from the style of music to the plot’s subject. However, Montwood High School’s Emerald Players have taken it back to a classic broadway feel, refreshing us with the 1962 Pulitzer Prize for Drama winner, How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying.

Before the curtain is drawn open, we are introduced to our ambitious protagonist, Pierrepont Finch played by Rafael Flores. He is an average blue-collar worker who is hoping to make it big in corporate America with the help of his new book: How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying. Suddenly the curtains are pulled and the audience is introduced to a world of suits and ties.

We follow Finch on his journey to the top of the food chain as he learns “The Company Way.” With the help of his book, he schemes and executes cheeky plans, which are mostly untrustworthy. However, Rafael Flores does an excellent job of continuing to steal our hearts and keeping the audience on his side, rooting for him to the end.

This musical, directed by Evanie Gamboa, includes a plethora of memorable characters such as the boisterous Hedy La Rue played by Genesis Hernandez and the rib-tickling Bud Frump played by Christian Barrio. The actors threw energy to each other on-stage and into the audience, filling the auditorium with spirit and laughter. The energy was even felt strongly throughout the incredibly responsive ensemble who never gave up on their amusing facial expressions.

In addition, the movement and speed of the tech crew was very impressive. Every member seemed to have a job which was executed in perfect timing, especially when it came to lighting, sound, and scene transitions.

Moreover, the production includes appealing details such as the uniform rosy cheeks and the 1960’s style costumes. It also includes jaw-dropping choreography by Robin Bonilla and pleasant vocals from cast members such as Luis Perea and Markie Condra. Overall, this cast and crew definitely succeeded.

by Rebecca Filetti of Loretto Academy

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This past weekend exceeded all expectations and pushed all boundaries in the musical event of the season: How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying. Featuring an amazing ensemble, beautiful voices and creative handwriting, the Emerald Players leave the audience hanging on for some more.

Led by Rafael Flores as the ambitious Pierrepont Finch, the story follows Finch on his journey going upward on the social ladder. From the moment he walks up into the stage, Flores captivates the audience with his endless charm and charisma. He went beyond all expectations and he owned that stage from beginning to end. Throughout his journey his love interest Rosemary Pilkington, portrayed by an enchanting Aliya Gardea, struggles to capture his eye. Gardea’s beauty brings out the simple elegance behind a woman in that time period and captivates the audience with her longing for Finch. Among several standouts are Joseph Fernandez, Cristian Barrio and Genesis Hernandez who portray J.B. Biggley, Bud Frump and Hedy La Rue are the comedic relief throughout the performance and never fail to make the audience laugh.

The musical performances and its choreography were, by far, the most exhilarating and beautiful thing I’ve ever seen. Numbers such as “Coffee Break,” “A Secretary is Not a Toy” and “Brotherhood of Man” perfectly showcased the will and the ability the talented ensemble had to offer. Every step synchronized, every note held, everything was brilliant. Cheers to Robin Bonilla & Itzel Nevarez for creating such memorable moments in this already beautiful show.

Although the set itself looked rather simple it transformed into something more complex and beautiful at the end of each scene. Occasionally there would be some failures with sound effects that would be fixed almost at once. The lighting effects were mesmerizing. The crew’s hard work paid off, the created a beautiful set and everything ran smoothly.

From start to finish, the Emerald Players performed a beautiful work of art in How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying effortlessly. Everything was spot-on and beautiful and resembled an actual Broadway show. Cheers to Evanie Gamboa and Christina Severson for managing an intricate and beautiful performance. For those who didn’t get to see a masterpiece, you missed one heck of a show.

Oranges, happiness, a little bit of love, and lots of laughs are what you can expect in the unexpected fairytale of “The Love of Three Oranges.” Socorro High School, under the direction of Troy Herbort, retold the story of Carlo Gozzi’s “The Love For Three Oranges,” but with a touch of humor. We follow a prince in his adventure in search for three oranges but along the way he encounters witches, wizards, untold horrors, and falls in love with an orange.

Strutting to center stage were our two unlikely heroes the Prince Tartagila (Nolan Herbort) and the rubber chicken-wielding clown Truffaldino (Raul Hernandez) who reeled the audience into the story with their great chemistry on stage. The pair effortlessly worked together as soon as they stepped on stage and were able to stay in character throughout the whole play. With Truffalindo’s cheeky attitude and Tartagila’s determination in his quest for his oranges, the two fed off one another to entertain and humor the crowd. Along with this pair was the audience’s wild Narrator (Ethan Barrera), who set up each scene and moved along the story in his own favor. The Narrator began each act with an abundance of energy that carried out through the rest of the story and even when just sitting in his tower with no lines, he stayed in the scene and helped the audience following the plot of the play.

Complementing these characters were their wicked villains and witty supporting characters. The evil witch Fata Morgana (Briana Sanez) brought a strong and demanding presence on to the stage with her performance. From her first entrance to her unlikely exit, Fata Morgana is portrayed as a stereotypical villain, even with her own music and evil henchmen, she brings in her own attitude to the show that gives the good guys something to fight with. Fata Morgana’s evil and clever henchman, Smeraldina (Jessica Fernandez), caused a number of bouts of laughter with her simple movements and sarcastic replies while the beloved advisor of the King of Hearts (Raul Olivas), Pantalone (Saul Hernandez), gave his “whatever” attitude and smart aleck responses. As a whole, the cast worked splendidly to make everyone leave with a smile on their faces.

The tech elements of the play worked alongside the cast to enhance the effect of the storybook play. The set was composed of two large book structures on the side where the narrator could sit and watch the scene unfold while there was an open book on the wall with a projection to easily show the different scene locations. Costume choices were well done in order to exhibit each characters personality. The show was pulled together with the excellent sound choices and beautiful lighting designs.

Socorro High School’s hilarious performance proved to be fruitful in their quest to bring laughter to the audience with their high energy and interaction with the audience in “The Love of Three Oranges.”

by Carolina DeSantiago of El Dorado High School

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Comedy, fairy tales, oranges and a little bit of love are all the elements shown in Soccoro High School’s rendition of "The Love of Three Oranges." This is the hilarious play written by Carlos Gozzi and wonderfully directed by Troy Herbort. In it we have our "hero" of the story Truffalindo who is given the task of cheering up the melodramatic hypochondriac Prince Tartagila, a boy battling the forces of an evil witch, Fata Morgana, who leads them to far destinations and adventures across the globe.

The performances of this play had me invested from start to finish! The amount of energy and chemistry seen on stage was a truly welcoming surprise. Each actor brought their own special qualities, unique characters and personalities onstage without taking away from the others' performance. Characters like Pantalone (Saul Hernandez), Silvio (Raul Olivas), Leandro (Andres Gomez), and Smeraldina (Jessica Fernandez) all brought their own flair to their scenes. I saw a great group of talent and believe the whole cast played extremely well for such a large production.

Noting a few of the performers I feel compelled to commend characters such as Truffaldino (Raul Hernandez) whose energy and humor carried the entire show. His exceptional physicality made him the perfect jester, and the perfect opposite to the down and depressing Prince Tartaglia (Nolan Herbort) – also a great character. They complimented each other nicely.

All technical and costuming aspects of this show also blended rather nicely. The set and lighting both worked well together to create a nice mood and added a dramatic flair. The show had a various array of moving sets and backgrounds and took the audience right into the scene that was happening. The use of lighting and sounds to create sets and moods made the scenes spectacular. Everyone who worked behind the scenes deserves just as much credit as the actors on the stage.

Overall I was truly impressed by their ability to bring this interactive slapstick show to life. The energy and commitment of the actors made the show worthwhile. From beginning to the end – from the acting, physicality, sets, and sound – this show was able to keep me, as well as the audience, well entertained and amused. Soccoro without a doubt gave us a wonderful story about “ The love of Three Oranges.”

As we dive into a world of mermaids, magic, and princesses, we befriend a young mermaid who falls in love with a human! Will this cause problems? Will they be together in the end? This adventurous night of "The Little Mermaid Jr." was presented to us by Americas High School.

The little mermaid is a young daughter of King Triton making her princess Ariel. She has a beautiful voice and a beautiful mindset of humans. Her curiosity leads her to a ship filled with humans but they get caught in a huge storm. She rescues a man who fell off the ship and instantly falls in love with him but little does she know that he’s a prince! Her father gets furious when he finds out what she did and tells her to never go back to the humans. Her heart is broken until she meets a sea witch who offers her some help to be with her true love but it all ends in disaster! Or does it?

Ariel (Andrea Chacon) has a great connection with her funny best friend Flounder (Dominick Sosa). Sebastian is a stubborn little crab who worries about Ariel but helps her throughout the musical. Ursula (Nicole Hungerbeeler) is the sea witch who tricks all these “unfortunate souls” including Ariel. She was strong and demanding with both her lines and songs. Her minions Flotsam (Krystian Rodriguez) and Jetsam (Cheyenne Morales) were very amusing and conniving together doing whatever Ursula told them to do.

The technical aspects were very good and smooth. The lighting went with all the scenes and looked as if the sun was coming through the water in the ocean. The illusions of a storm and magic being casted were amazing. The sets were beautiful and simple. The transitions were swiftly done in a short period of time. The waves that were created looked realistic throughout the play.

The music that the orchestra played was stunning and made the audience feel like they’re actually there with the fish and humans. The song “Part of Your World” sounded beautiful with the illusion that you were in the cave with Ariel. The echoing aspects were soft but noticeable and realistic. “Under the Sea” was played in a fun uplifting way. “Poor Unfortunate Souls” was the complete opposite. It was played with a fierce and frightening feel, matching the scene in a perfect way.

This exciting musical went through a whole bunch of emotions that the audience felt too. Americas Theater kept the audience wanting more but left them satisfied with how the play was portrayed. It was a magical night ending with the message that true love conquers all.

by Alyssa Mireles of El Dorado

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The Americas High School production of The Little Mermaid was overall a creative representation of the beloved Disney story.

There are several actors that did a splendid job. The first was Ariel, who had a lovely voice and was a pleasure to watch whilst singing. She represented her lead role well with her child-like actions and voice that was just like Ariel’s. Ursula was also an excellent singer, but not only did she sing, she dominated the stage with her presence. It wasn’t hard to tell that she was an all powerful sea witch, who was destined to lead Ariel into a trap. Two supporting characters are also in need of recognition are Sebastian and Chef Louis. Sebastian was not necessarily comedic, but still appropriately funny nonetheless. The actress brought great energy to the stage and was always in character. Chef Louis was also extremely enjoyable to watch, even for the short time he was on, because he acted well with his slamming of the knife, trying to catch Sebastian, or when he was singing, which were all accompanied by his signature French accent. It seemed as though the actors got energy

from each other because the group numbers and scenes were often better than when characters were alone. For example, Ariel, Flounder, and Scuttle worked well in every scene they were in together. Several of the actors were tough to hear when they would act by themselves. Others were still not as powerful or as prominent as they could have been, and the characters could have been represented better.

The bit of the show that was really eye-catching was the costumes. Each character’s costume was bright, vibrant, and pleasing to the eye. There was no guessing involved with who the actors were supposed to be, it was obvious through the visuals that the costumes gave. Some costumes that stood out the most were Sebastian’s, Scuttle’s, Flounder’s, Flotsam’s, and Jetsam’s. The sets were also interesting to view when it came to transitioning and the particular setting the characters were in. The sets that stood out most were Ariel’s secret grotto, Prince Eric’s ship, and the boat surrounded by vines where the “Kiss The Girl” number was performed. There were a few technical difficulties with the microphones, where a character’s line would be cut off because of feedback. However, this situation did not take away from the show too often that it became an evident problem. The orchestra is also an aspect that brought great energy to the show. They played the entire show through mak

ing very few mistakes, and even when they did, would quickly recover. Overall, there weren’t extremely noticeable problems with sets, costumes, music, or other technical parts of the show.

Although certain characters stood out more than others, and there were few technical difficulties, the show flowed smoothly for the most part and was a great rendition of the story of The Little Mermaid.

Cappies

The El Paso Cappies Blog is here to provide information about high school theater in El Paso. We will be providing reviews of shows past and previews of shows to come. Most of our content will be student generated.